Portable washing machine



May i3 H924.

` B. PRIGMORE PORTABLE WASHING MACHINE 1923 2 Sheens-Sheet l Filed Feb. 19

lili.

May 1s w24.

1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 www Patented Mafy 13, 1924.

, UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcr...

BEBSIE PRIGMORE, OF PORTLAND, OBGON, ASSIGNOR T JOHN E. KENNEY, 0F v PORTLAND, OREGON. l

' ron'mnnr. WASHING Maenner.

To allfwhom 'it my 001mm:

Be it: known that I, Bnssm PRIGMORE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Portland, county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, have invented 'a new and useful Improvement in Portable Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to washing machines and specifically to washing machines which have no tub connected therewith, and to' attachments which are adapted to be mounted on a tub.

The object of my invention is to provide a portable washing machine which is compact and which is adapted to be readily attached to and detached from a standard stationary wash tray and` is designed to work eiiiciently therein.

A further and more specific object is to provide a washing machine or attachment in which the dolly not only oscillates but also has devices connected therewith which perform a suction action and thus agitate the contents of the tub.

I attain theseobjects in a washing machine `by means of the combination -of a portable base having means for fastening the same to a wash tub orv the like, the base adapted to constitute a cover for said tub and provided with a removable section which permits access to the tub without unseating the base therefrom, a prime mover mounted on said base, an oscillatable arm operatively connected with said `prime mover, a hollow shaft journaled in said base for oscillation about a vertical axis, connections between said oscillatable arm and said shaft, a head carried by the lower -end of said hollow shaft, a hollow perforated cylinder pendent from said head, a plunger reciprocable in said cylinder, a rod reciprocable in said hollow shaft. means for utilizing the oscillation of the latter to reciprocate said. rod, an operative connection between the latter and said plunger.

These and other objects are' illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my device mounted on a ortable base with a ortion of the base 'bro en away to show etails of construction;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 .of Fig. 1 and shows the deny head and the plunger operating mechanism in section; Fig. 3 is a section taken'on the .line 3-,3

of Fig. 1 with the dolly head shown sub-n stantially in full but vl.with parts broken awLe/ilyy to show details of construction.

1 which is madevin a' plurality of pieces.

Portions 1a and 1" are clamped to the tub Vdevice is mounted on a portable base 2 on one side by screw clamps Sand portions 1 and 1d are hingedly attached thereto. Thewashing mechanism is mounted on the piece 1c which is held to the other side of the tub by releasable clamps 4. Portion 1c covers the major portion of the top of the tub and the portion 1d which is hinged. to the section 1b covers substantially the rest. There is no mechanism mounted on the section 1d and thus-it can be readily' raised upward and thus provides an easy access to the vtub without unseating the mechanism. A prime mover as the motor 5 is mounted on. the base .10' and is connected to a rotatable worm 6v by a shaft the worm and the motor. The worm 6 meshes with the worm gear 9 which is mounted on the shaft 10 which is journaled vertically and thus 'normal to the horizontalA shaft 7 on which the worm is`mounted. This shaft is journaled 'in a casing 11 and its removable .cap 12. VThe shaft 10 has a horizontal arm 13 at its lower extremity which has a vertical crank pin 14. A horizontal lever 15 pivotally mounted on a pivot 16 is oscillated by this pin 14 extending thru the elongated hole 17.,V The end 18 of this lever 15 opposite the elongated hole 14 is arcuate and has teeth 19 and thus constitutes a segment of a gear. The teeth 19 mesh with the segment 2O mounted on the hollow dolly shaft 21. The dolly head 22 isl connected to the lower end of the hol-l 7 which has a flexible coupling 8 between longitudinally in the bore.

on the base board. The casing 11 has an elongated arm 27 which extends out and forms a wearing surface against which the lock `nut -26 and the segment 20 wear so is fastened to the rod 28 and extends thru the spiral slot `31 in the hollow dolly shaft 21'. Thus as the dolly shaft 21 rotates it moves the rod 28 longitudinally in its bore because the shaft is held against rotationby the bracket 29 and is --moved longitudinally due to the. action of the spiral slot 31 forcing the pin upwardly or downwardly. l

AThe lower end of this rod 28 Vis pivotally fastened, to a plurality of levers 32. These levers `are pivotally-v lmounted between the supports 33 and vtheirffree ends are connected to .a plunger rod 34. Plungers 35 move longitudinally in th'l hollow dollypegs 36 which are thus s stantially cylinders. Thus as the levers 32 are moved the plungers 35 are moved fl gitudinally in these dolly pegs 36. These pegs are perforated as at 37 and thus it can be seen that if the dolly head was submerged in water. the

' action of these plungers would be to draw water into these pegs or cylinders and force it out again consecutively during each stroke.

The operation-'of my device is as follows: The device is portable and easily transferred from one'y washing tray or tub to another and the clamps 3 and 4 fasten the board tightly to the tub. The motor 5 is then started and' it rotates the shaft 7 and thus the worm 6. .This worm being in contact with the worm gear rotates-thaton its vertical shaft 10. 'The shaft rotates the yarm 13. andthe crank pin 14 being seated in the elongated slot 17 moves the lever 15 about its pivot 16. This transmits themetion from rotary motion to horizontal oscillatory motion because the elongated lslot 17 is slightly longer than twice the lever arm ofthe arm 13`and crank pin 14. Thus as the lever 13 is rotated it oscillates the lever 15 on its pivot 16. The opposite end of the lever 15 therefore rocks the gear segment 20.

the plungerv 35 to move longitudinally in` the bore of the hollow pegs 36. The dolly head therefore moves the clothes thruA water in the wash tray and the plungers alternately force and suck waterthru the clothes.

A wringer 38 is mounted on the base 1d and driven vbythe shaft 39 which is connected to the vertical shaft 10 by means of a pair of double pinions, 40. A clutch'41 is provided in the shaft 39 so that the'power can be Lconnected or disconnected from the wringer. A similar clutch 42 is provided in the shaft 10 so that power can be connected lor disconnected to or from the dolly shaft. Ihe motor 5 can thus be4 operatedsso as torun the wringer separately or the dolly head separately or run them both simultaneously. An arm 43 fastened tothe casing 11 acts asa bearing for the shaft 39and a universal joint 44 connects the shaft 39 to the wringer 38 so that the wringercan be operated in any convenient position.

, I claim:

1. In a washing machine the combination of a portable base having means for fastening the same to a wash tub or the like, a

Aprime mover mounted on said base, an oscillatable arm operatively connected with said prime mover, a hollow shaft journaled in said base for oscillation about a vertical axis, connections between said oscillatable arm and said shaft, a headcarried `by the lower end of said shaft, fa hollow perforated cylinder pendent from said head, aplunger reciprocable in said cylinder, a rod reciprocable in'said hollow shaft, means for utilizing thegoscillation of the latter to recipro-` cate said rod, and an operating connection between the latter and said plunger.

2. In a washing machine, the combination of a base, a prime-mover mounted on said base, an oscillatable arm operatively connected to said prime-mover, a hollow shaft journalled insaid base for oscillation about a vertical axis, connections between said oscillatable arm and said shaft, a head carried by the lower end of said shaft, washing devices carried by said head, means for utilizing the oscillation of the hollow shaft to operate said washing devices.

l 3'. In a washing machine, the combination of a base, a prlme-mover mounted on said base, an oscillatable arm operatively connected'to said prime-mover, a hollow shaft journaled in said base for oscillation about a vertical axis, connections between said oscillatable arm and said shaft, a head carried by the lower end of said shaft, a plurality of hollow perforated cylinders pendent from said head, a plunger reciprocal in each of said cylinders, a rod reciprocal in said hollow shaft, means for utilizing the oscillation of the latter to reciprocate said rod, and an operatin connection between the latter and said p ungers.

4. In, a washing machine,v the combination of a base, a prime-mover mounted on said base, an 'oscillatable arm operatively connected to said prime-mover, a hollow shaft journaled in said base for oscillation about a vertical axis, connections between said oseillatablev arm and said shaf, a head carried by the lower end of said shaft, a plurality of hollow perforatedl cylinders 5 pendent from said head and arranged to diverge from a common vertical axis, a plunger reciprocal in each of said cylinders,

a rod reciprocal in said hollow shaft, means BEssIE PRIGMORE.

nection between the latte and said plung-v 

